Friday 17 February 2012

BLOG HIATUS

Hello, hello, hello Dear Readers! Happy Friday to you all! I woke up today to find that Shadows on the Moon was listed in the School Library Journal's Trend Spotter article on 2012's Top Kids Books, right next to Alex Flinn's new book, which acted like a shot of pure caffeine to my early morning brain. Whoot! Let's hope this is a sign that the U.S. will welcome Suzume and Otieno and all the rest. Only two months to go now.

Other than this piece of news, I have something else to tell you, which is that I'm going to take a blog hiatus for next week, so you won't get any new posts from me until the 27th of Feb.

Don't worry! I'm not going anywhere, and the blog's not going anywhere!

I'm taking the week off blogging because I feel as if I've lost my way with the book I'm working on at the moment. I had just started to hit my stride when my family all fell ill, so I had to put it aside while I was running around looking after everyone. And when that started to taper off, I got ill. Now I'm starting to feel better, but I've still been dragging and lethargic for the past week. The net result is that I've not managed to actually write any new words on Katana Book #2 - otherwise known as The Angstening: EmoCakes, for nearly a month. I've fiddled about with notes, researched and scribbled random bits of dialogue, but not moved the story forward at all.

I know from experience that this kind of sudden and unwanted stop in the forward momentum of a book can cause me serious problems, so I've made the executive decision to put everything else aside for a week and focus exclusively on the book, without worrying about anything else. As soon as I made that decision I felt a weight leaving me, so I know it's right.

I love this blog, and I love the little community we have built up together here. I don't want to cut down on the number of posts I make or how many comments I reply to. I think those things are important. But the compromise that's necessary to make this feasible is that occasionally I will have to drop out of radio contact while I focus on other things. Personally, I think that's a good trade-off, and I hope you do too.

So I'll read you all in a week! In the meantime, if there are any topics you'd like me to blog about on my return, or any questions you'd like me to answer, you know the drill - pop them in the comments and I will be all over them like white on rice. Have a great weekend, homies!

23 comments:

Jenni said...

Just finished reading the SLJ piece, go you!

Hope your break is wonderfully productive and you come back with that book completely under your control and full of new words :D

Zoë Marriott said...

Jenni: Thanks, hun :) I'm stocking up on caffeine and cup ramen as we speak!

Lynsey Newton said...

I think you're doing the most sensible thing Zoe and I'm sure everyone is 100% behind you x

Zoë Marriott said...

Lynsey: Thanks - I feel a bit guilty, but I know that's silly. A lot of authors only post on their blogs a couple of times a month, if that, and most don't respond to all the comments like I do. It's fun but it takes time and effort and sometimes you just want to put your time and effort into one thing for a while.

serendipity_viv said...

Well done honey.

And you go take that break. Your writing is extremely important and we desperately want you to finish, because you are so awesome. We will be here when you get back. Go kick that MS in the butt!

Zoë Marriott said...

Viv: Heh - thank you :) *Puts on ass-kicking boots*

Jesse Owen said...

You deserve the break - you'll come back all refreshed :D

Now, get writing ;)

Zoë Marriott said...

Jesse: Let's hope no more random viruses attack me, then! That would be just my luck :)

Alex Mullarky said...

Have a nice week away from blogging, Zoe :)

Zoë Marriott said...

Alex: It'll feel a bit like a holiday, in a way!

Amy said...

Seems like a very fair trade-off to me, good luck writing! :)

Rebecca Lindsay said...

I think you're doing the right thing. Your writing is the most important thing and we'll still be here in a week. I hope it goes well :)

Zoë Marriott said...

Amy: Thanks, I hope it works!

Rebecca: That's true - thanks :)

Isabel said...

Sounds like the right thing to do. Good luck on the writing! (By the way, the week you get back I may not be visiting much because it's tech week for my play and I will be reeally busy. But I'll catch up later on.)

Zoë Marriott said...

Isabel: Thanks, hun - and have a really nice time working on the play :)

Bonnie @ A Backwards Story said...

We'll miss you, but we totally understand! *hugs*

My only wish is to have you one day reply to that one email, winkwinknudgenudge ;) You have me all hot and bothered, lol!

Zoë Marriott said...

Backwards: Agrhg! I knew I'd forgotten something! I put it into the folder with a bunch of other emails and I just keep forgetting that I need to open that file up and deal with it. Hey, would you mind if I answered some of those questions on the blog afterall? Maybe next week?

Anonymous said...

Waahh, I came to your website to read today's blog post before I remembered there won't be one! :-(
Good luck with working on your book, but come back soon 'kay? xx

Anonymous said...

Hi Zoe :)
When you're writing how do you calculate how many pages you've written? Do you know the approximate number of pages for 10,000 words or 30,000 words? How do you work it out?
From Curious Writer

Nattasha said...

Hope your having a good and productive week away Zoe. In other news I've finally managed to get a copy of Shadows on the moon which I can't wait to read!! I also got inspired and decided to start writing a book myself.

AmieSalmon said...

Aaah, I come back and you've disappeared for the week. Alas, I hope the week off has done you (and the writing well) and also hope all your family are feeling better.

Till next week.

Zoë Marriott said...

Anon: That is a very good question - and I think I will answer it in a blog post next week :)

Nattasha: Wow, I haven't seen you around in a while! I'm having a very productive week, thank you - and I hope you enjoy Shadows! Good luck with your book too.

Amie: Oops, sorry! And thanks, we're all much better.

Nattasha said...

Thanks Zoe :) I'm glad your week has been productive and that you are all on the mend. I was actually the unknown who recomended Maria V Synder on Monday Book Rec, there was just something wrong with my google account. I'm actually all chuffed you remembered me.

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